From Mechanical Engineering to IT and now to Analytics, I have had quite a colorful career graph. I worked with various organizations right from CapGemini, Oracle, Persistent, Cisco, Deutsche Bank to my most recent position with an organization (confidential) in the data and analytics leadership space. I started working in big data analytics as early as 2011, however, I was only doing things in Business Intelligence, Big Data, and Analytics in bits and pieces, hence I was never able to get an end-to-end holistic picture with all dots connected. In 2016, I realized I needed to learn the breadth and depth of it if I wanted to do better, and that’s when PGP-BABI happened.

I was already working in Analytics when I enrolled in the PGP-BABI program: Most of the people working in analytics are missing an end-to-end picture. This was also applicable to someone like me who only worked on specific parts of an analytics project having little insight into the larger goal. That’s when I thought I needed to understand the entire lifecycle of an analytics project both in action and theoretically and decided to pursue the PGP-BABI program.

I opted for PGP-BABI for the amazing learning flexibility it provides. One can opt for online courses but then there are several drawbacks, the primary one being zero interaction with the faculty. I wanted in-person classroom training and the program catered to that along with my other constraints in terms of feasibility. Also, the learning and sharing aspect is defiant in online learning whereas in a classroom you can learn with a diverse peer group. The faculty credentials, success stories on the website, and top ratings by AIM and AVM were all contributing factors in my decision. Great Learning PGP-BABI’s expertise in the analytics space is undisputed.

The average work experience in my batch was more than 10 years. We weren’t a small group, we were 50 learners strong. Everyone came with a different skillset, experience level, company, domain, and some like me were already working in Analytics. But it was heartening to see that despite the diversity, we all wanted to develop ourselves in Analytics. This like-mindedness made our one year rewarding and we continue to stay in touch. It also speaks volumes about the potential that Analytics holds and how it has become all pervasive.

The capstone project holds the key to future interviews. Since it is an end-to-end project, I got to learn things holistically. Whoever put more focus on the capstone project has had a higher success rate since it gives you the required insights to crack a job interview. This is particularly true for anyone who wishes to transition or switch to Analytics.

Along with the course content, vigor is required to make a switch. Great Learning’s PGP-BABI will ensure your basics are clear but you will need to do much more to stay at the top of your game. You can participate in hackathons on Kaggle and Analytics Vidhya websites, but, honestly, being a Great Learning student gives you a complete edge when going for an interview. It is a hands-on course which guides how to formulate a problem and the steps required to resolve it. Of course, you will have to give your full effort and focus when attempting the assignments so you can learn well.